Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
192
SÖNYA KOVALÉVSKY
her father had always preferred her to the others, and
after his death she felt utterly sad and lonely.
Aniuta had her husband, on whose neck she could
weep out all her grief. But Sönya had no one to turn
to for comfort. She had always kept at a distance the
man whose highest ambition was to be her comfort and
support. But now this distance seemed to her painful
and unnatural; and thus her desire for affection
induced her to overcome her prejudices. During the
silent hours of sorrow she glided into full relationship
with her husband.
#*#*##
During the next winter the whole family went to
St. Petersburg. There Sönya soon found herself the
center of an intellectual circle such as coiüd be hardly
found elsewhere—a circle alert and wide awake;
mentally, so to speak, on the qui vive.
Enlightened and liberal-minded Russians are, it is
generally agreed, far more many-sided, freer from
prejudice, and broader in their views than any other
nation.
This was the experience not only of Sönya, but of
all who have moved in such circles. They are in the
van of advanced thought in Europe, and are ever the
first to discover the dawn of fresh light. They are also
more enthusiastic, and have a greater faith in ideals,
than the educated thinkers of other nations.
In such circles Sönya at last felt herself appreciated
and understood.
After five long years spent in severe study, and
utterly devoid of amusement, there was now to her,
in the full prime of her youth, something captivating
and enchanting in the sudden change. All her brilliant
gifts developed as if by magic, and she threw herself
heartily into the whirl of " society" gaiety, with its
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
